Following a year that saw an impressively diverse output even without a solo album, Black Milk announces his largest North American tour to date. The 25-date national trek, dubbed the “Claps And Slaps Tour”, launches in Providence, Rhode Island on February 25, and continues throughout the month of March, touching New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with many more stops along the way (complete routing below).

In addition to his talents as both an emcee and producer, Black Milk is a commanding and accomplished stage performer whose explosive live shows are often cited among hip hop’s best. After over 75 performances worldwide in support of 2010’s Album of the Year, he will once again team up with his band Nat Turner (led by Aaron “Ab” Abernathy) who inject doses of funk, soul, gospel, and rock into his constantly expanding catalog.

Despite his extensive tour schedule, Black Milk managed to release several new projects in 2011. He produced the long-awaited debut album for his group Random Axe (with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson), dropped the Black and Brown EP with the eccentric rising star Danny Brown, and even released a single and live album via White Stripe’s frontman Jack White’s label Third Man Records.

The upcoming year looks to be another wide-ranging and eclectic one for Black Milk, who is set to release a new instrumental project in the spring titled The Practice as a part of a new series called “Fuzz, Freqs, & Colors”. He also continues work on his soul project Searching for Sanity with vocalist Melanie Rutherford, as well as the anticipated full-length follow up to Album of the Year.

The Claps And Slaps Tour will also feature opening support from Seattle up-and-comer J. Pinder and the dynamic Dallas duo A.Dd+. J. Pinder is one of the new school of hip-hop ambassadors for his hometown of Seattle, having gained critical notoriety with his mixtape Backpack Wax with veteran Seattle producer/DJ Vitamin D, and his own EP Code Red. A.Dd+’s album When Pigs Fly was called “the best hip hop album Dallas has ever released” by the Dallas Observer, and it headed the list of Pitchfork’s “Most Underrated Rap Releases” of 2011. They’re currently working on their follow up with production from S1, Black Milk, and their in-house producer Picnic Tyme.